>> and death of a prisoner in an l.a. -- israeli jails sparked protest against the west bank. >> palestinian authorities say arafat was tortured in detention. hello. this is al jazeera live from london. italians go to the polls. will these candidates garner enough to get a stable government? paul benedict the 16th reassures programs that he is not abandoning the roman catholic

church. what change will this bring? >> we need to go now. >> will it be "argo" tonight at the oscars? welcome to the program. death by torture. that is what the palestinian government says arafat's jaradat died during an israeli prison. they say his death was from a heart attack. jaradat was arrested six days ago on suspicion of throwing stones and wednesday and israeli. his death has sparked thousands of palestinian prisoners on a 24 hour hunger strike. authorities say he had bruises and broken ribs and a bloodied nose. >> it is clear that jaradat was

subjected to torture which led to his death. i give complete responsibility to israel. it is undeniable that the version of events from israel is made up. >> in my opinion, i blame the prison officers and the israeli prison services. it took them six days. they told him to say goodbye to your children. >> we are joined live from jerusalem. hello. we have seen people protesting. what is their main feeling about the situation in? >> there is a great deal of anger and frustration across the west bank and the issue of all palestinian political prisoners. more than 4000 palestinians currently in israeli jails. the palestinian authority is calling for an international investigation into this debt.

there has been a lot of protests and rallies. we had the body of this man returned to the palestinian authority. he is currently in a morgue. there will be a funeral carried out in his home village on monday. hundreds of people are expected to attend. >> the issue of palestinian prisoners seem to have been getting a lot of attention over the past couple of weeks. why is that? >> it really has heated up over the last couple of weeks. it started with a man going on a very long hunger strike. he has been on a hunger strike with some supplement for over 200 days. this has led to a lot of demonstrations and rallies outside of places like the military base. we saw more rallies there today. people have been very concerned that this man and some of the other long-term strikers would

die. people are fed up with the issue of palestinians being detained. this is the issue of administrative detention whereby israel can arrest palestinians, keep them in jail for six months without a charge, and then continue to renew that so-called administrative detention. the issue of palestinian prisoners is a very sensitive and one across the west bank and gaza. so many people have been touched by it. they either know someone in their family or friends or they spent time inside an israeli jail themselves. declines in a cold johnson there in jerusalem. thank you. italians have been voting on the first day of an election. many will register their disillusionment with mainstream politicians by supporting the

anti-establishment movement. the vote is being closely watched around the eurozone. in a moment we will be live in a row. first, this report from naples. >> after 15 months of unelected government by non-politicians, it is time to turn democracy back on in italy. is a prospect not everyone is excited by. attempting a comeback, but berlusconi here getting a taste of public anger at a polling station. his alliance is in second place but political opposition makes a berlusconi return to government unlikely. >> i think there will be other

elections. it will be worse than this one. there will be more protests. i see instability. >> we hope for us and our children and the future we are better off. there are others behind us. >> the interim government of technocrats led by mario monti may have played a part in pulling italy back from the economic brink but it plunged the country into austerity, prolonging its worst recession in 20 years. boaters are now looking to the politicians to solve their problems. there are few promising answers. he looks at to win a shaky majority despite pledging to press ahead with austerity. it has at least pledge to pursue growth. there is no certainty that it will be able to govern with a

free hand. its power potentially curtailed by a colorful cast of characters. in predictable fashion, berlusconi has already broken the silence impose some politicians at election time. >> they attacked me. it was based on nothing. nothing came of it. >> some may be won over by that. others will be enticed by the anti-establishment, anti- everything appeal from a comedian. with no experience in politics whatsoever. italy today, and that is the great strength. al jazeera, naples. >> that go live to al jazeera. how has turned not return out in so far? >> it has been a little bit

lower as it was this time for the last election. not much. there are a few reasons behind that. elections are usually held in the spring. it has been a bitterly cold day all over italy, especially in the north where it has been snowing heavily. we have two more hours of voting and then polling stations will reopen tomorrow. turn out in italy is usually high, around 70% to 80%. no one is worrying about the boat tour turn out just yet. it will be interesting to see who will win. we spoke about the polls where they were announced two weeks before the election. they do show him ahead by six points of berlusconi. there is a lot of wild cards. people think he has had a surge

in the past two weeks. his party could be the second biggest group in parliament. some people do think there will be undecided votes. people and not been convinced by any candidates and will make their decision when they're at the polling booth. the worst-case scenario would be a hung parliament. that would paralyze italy, which to be trouble for the eurozone. >> what is at stake right now? italy is grappling with some pretty big issues. >> the big issue of course here is the economy. like every election we have seen. italy is a different case from the other countries, portugal, ireland, greece, and spain. it is the third biggest in the

eurozone. it is 10 times the economy of greece. italy would be impossible to bail out. the economy is not that bad. it is still a lot lower than spain or greece. italy's problem is a lack of growth on par with haiti and zimbabwe. that is the problem with its growing. it just evaporate any chance at it being able to repay the huge debt which stands at about 120% of gdp. that is why the eurozone is looking at italy quite closely. the answer so far seems to be austerity. that is what mario monti's government has been pushing. like and other country, greece and spain have huge question marks on whether austerity is the best or worst thing for the economy? it means the economy does not grow. that is one of the issues of

anyone at the voting booth today or tomorrow. >> thank you. staying in rome, pope benedict the 16th has been reassuring ball worse that he is not abandoning the roman catholic church. he was giving his final sunday blessing to a packed crowd. paul brennan has the story. >> it lasted barely 10 minutes. his last ever blessing in rome was laden with significant. to an audience of tens of thousands and a global television audience of millions, the pope offered reassurance. if the lord calls me to go up and dedicate myself more to prayer and meditation. this does not mean abandoning the church. if god is asking this of me, it is so that i may continue to serve it with dedication and love and a manner more appropriate to my aid in strength.

from a conservation still reeling, and the message was well received. >> it was surprising. it was something new. we all had a little bit of surprise. why, you know? >> that has not stopped feverish rumors. let's the report prepared by three cardinals were top secret. few people have seen it. they expect this will fill the vacuum. we have heard reports of a gay lobby. we have had reports of infighting and corruption. all of these things supposedly weighed so heavily when the and it read the reports that he decided to resign. >> they are said to get a report

before they let the successor. officials say that is blatant interference in the election process. >> it is deplorable as we draw closer to the time of the beginning of the conclave when cardinals will have to express their choice in front of god and what they're conscious that there has been widespread distribution of unverified are completely false news stories. >> this is an oversized by the media speculation over the exact reason for the resignation. tens of thousands of them gathered in st. peter's square. the reputation and legacy remains untarnished despite the media reports. >> the final public appearance will be on wednesday. huge crowds are expected to attend. paul brennan, al jazeera, rome. >> a group of priests are trying

to stop the country's most senior catholic cleric from taking part in the conclave to decide to the next pope will be. he is reported the abuse of being in an "inappropriate way with other priests." he rejects the allegations which go back 33 years. he is known for his outspoken views on homosexuality. coming this half hour, cashing in on conflict. the turkish traders making money from serious rebels. the world oldest marathon runners finishes his last contest. contest.

>> welcome back. it the palestinian authority is

refusing is really reports that a prisoner died of a heart attack and an israeli jail on saturday. it said arafat jaradati died as a result of torture. ballots are being passed on sunday and monday. nicos anastasiades favorite of of berlusconi. pope benedict 16 has give his final blessing. he reassured followers that his retirement does that mean he is abandoning the roman catholic church. karzai has ordered all u.s. special forces to leave the eastern province within two weeks. he accused them of fueling insecurity in the reason. the decision was taken because of allegations that afghans working with the troops are torturing and abusing other afghans. suicide bombers have targeted

afghanistan's intelligence agency and other forces in for coordinated attacks. the worst attack killed two intelligence agents it police shot and killed. the taliban is claiming responsibility for all four. it has emerged that oscar pistorius' older brother himself is facing a homicide charge. oscar pistorius free on bail on friday after the shooting of his girlfriend's on valentine's day. leaders of 11 african countries have signed a peace deal to end nearly 20 years of fighting and a democratic republic of congo. they pledged to stop interfering in congolese affairs. m22 rebel group is not a

part of the agreement. while the scale of the conflict is truly staggering, with an 5 million people have died since 1998. many during what was described as africa's world war. more than 2 million people are still without a home. last year m-22 rebels launched a new offensive aimed at taking over the east of the country. we have the story. >> things have not gotten much better since the last time i was here in december. the agency say more than 120,000 people have fled from their homes since the siding in november. thousands of people have come here. 80 kilometers outside of goma.

may concern is food and access to decent shelter and sanitation. people here would really benefit from a peace process that works. what is being signed is a step forward. it is a beginning. it is looking at reforming the congolese state and also looking at stopping countries outside forces meddling in the affairs of the condo. there are lots of problems with that peace process. we do not know what kind of powers and on oil would have on dealing with this and whether the people signing will have a mechanism to oversee whether they will abide by what they're signing up for. people really hope this is the beginning of something. >> syrian rebels are launching a fresh offensive. they aim to capture them.

this footage reportedly shows the aftermath of a government air strike. the i taking a hydroelectric dam close to a lot of. turkey has gone to great lengths to minimize the impact of the war. guarding its borders and moving them into well organized camps. the business of warfare is changing the look of the shopping industry. we take a look at the new kind of shoppers at the city's famous bazaar. >> there is a new kind of shopper in the bazaar. they come discretely and they do not like being filmed. they're buying clothing and equipment to fight a war. when the deal is done, they disappear across the border to syria. this is one of the world agencies. for decades did was a quiet and

prosperous market town. now the war economy is changing the streets. refugees are settling here in the south. the only thriving businesses are the ones feeding off the war across the border. >> they now have seven shops selling tactical clothing and equipment. most opened in the last six months. the latest in mid february. these are for syria. these are fighting in three areas like forests. these are the summer version. some prefer the black ones. >> he comes from a turkish village right on the syrian border. he has relatives who are syrians fighting against the assad regime. >> there used to only be one shot here. we get our supplies from them. they charged really high prices. sometimes it would not even sell to people from syria.

>> he claims he is the cheapest supplier in town. he is looking at local manufacturing. he has at creative touches like temperatures. clothing is one of only three legal business is flourishing here. the other are sales of 2 to syria and renting apartments to syrian refugees. the black market has never been more lucrative. slowly, the city is being sucked into the conflict. areweapons for syria's war bought and sold out of sight of our cameras. rifles, knives, and to users are the most legal --- tasers are the most lethal. >> in the next few hours, they are expected to swear in cash or for another five-year term.

there is speculation about whether castro will use the ceremony to announce retirement plans. he said he has the right to retire. his older brother has me a surprise appearance at the parliamentary ceremony. he has hardly been seen in public since 2006. supporters of nicos anastasiades have supported his win in the runoff presidential election. they secured more than 57% of the vote. tens of thousands of people have been out protesting in bulgaria and a number of issues including poverty and corruption. demonstrations come days after the government stepped out over previous protests. >> thousands turned out on the

streets of the capital. this was a nationwide protests. people across the country raising their voices against widespread corruption in the rising costs of leaving -- living in this impoverished land. >> we are now the fourth country in europe. no money has been given to the bulgarian people. the little money they were given was taken from them. >> protesters branded their politicians calling for them to step down. people are dying. the government is silence. >> we want a major political change. we do not want this kind of democracy. the protest last week led to the

resignation of the prime minister. the anger fueled by outrage over rising energy costs and economic decline. but thousands out on the streets, and the resignation has done little to lessen the sense of outrage shared by the people. al jazeera. >> the countdown is on for hollywood's highest honor. rob reynolds looks at the contenders. >> i have bad news. >> controversy surrounds " zero dark thirty." some say kathryn bigelow's films a sort should be rolled torture played in tracking down the al qaeda leader. >> some thought it would be a vote for some of the things they were against.

it got caught in the muck. hollywood has also been buzzing about "argo." the film has won top prizes at the golden globes and screen actors guild awards. "argo" is favored to win the oscar for best picture but its star and director ben affleck was not nominated for the best director award. >> there's probably an element of resentment over the fact of this is a guy he was a movie star with a movie star wife who is a zillionaire and jesse really need our help? here the other contenders. "lincoln."lberg's daniel day lewis uncannily channels the great demands a pager leading many to predict he will win an unprecedented third award.ctor w "django unchained."

>> now you have my attention. >> "life of pi" is a 3d extravaganza. a philosophical boy sharing a lifeboat with a computer- generated tiger. "les miserables" make a return appearance. it was nominated for best picture in 1935. this year's version is hollywood's take on the long- running broadway musical. "silver linings "linings stars bradley cooper. at age 85, she is the oldest ever nominated for best actress. "beasts of the southern wild."

it is love and loss through the eyes of five-year old hush puppy. >> she's the youngest person ever nominated for a best actor award. come monday she just might have a shiny gold statuette to bring to school for show and tell. al jazeera, hollywood. >> the man known as the world's oldest marathon runner has retired from competitive running after competing 18 kilometer race and hong kong. 101 year old man crossed the finish line in one hour and 32 minutes and 28 seconds. he took up running at the age of 89